Orange Production Is Smallest It Has Been Since the 1940s

Citrus disease and bad weather are affecting orange production, causing pricing to jump, CNN reported.

This year, the United States Department of Agriculture  is expecting 44.5 million boxes of oranges, a small amount compared to the usual production. The crop is expected to be the smallest since the 1940s. Meanwhile demand has skyrocketed, especially for orange juice. Pricing for orange juice has increased more than 50% during the pandemic.

"You have your classical supply-demand mismatch," Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors, told CNN.

Florida’s orange harvest has also been steadily decreasing for years due to citrus disease as well, according to Shelley Rossetter, assistant director of global marketing at the Florida Department of Citrus.

"The disappointment of another decline in the forecast is hard to overstate," Rossetter said in a statement.

Pre-pandemic, orange juice demand had been down for two decades, but “supplies are way, way down,” Hackett said.

Oranges aren’t the only things that are getting more expensive. In general, food made at home increased in pricing by 6.5% last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

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